How to set junior employees up for success in remote • Hacker News Board

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#51

Post by mcv » Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 1:19 PM UTC

zwkrt wrote: post #15

mcv wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That trap also exists in the office, though. Even in the office, you need to give juniors active guidance. It's just that the way you give that guidance is different online and in the office.

The difference is it in the office you can just actively see that somebody is anxious and you can ask them what’s up.

True, but there have been plenty of cases where juniors languishing in an office with little guidance. And remote you can still ask them how they're doing by chat.

It's true that the barrier is a bit higher remote, but it's not unsurpassable.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#52

Post by formerkrogemp » Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 1:19 PM UTC

mfer wrote: post #26

geraldwhen wrote: post #5

Before remote, the office was already increasingly hostile. Open floor plans, some groups having shared seating, and offices for roughly no one. Now, it’s worse. Everything is “reservable equipment” of garbage monitors, windows keyboards, and 400 dpi mice. I suspect it’s harder for a junior to succeed anywhere today vs 2012. The office is not built to foster development or innovation. It’s an exec’s idea of what a so…

> I suspect it’s harder for a junior to succeed anywhere today vs 2012 When I was a jr engineer I was paired with some senior people who showed me the ropes. They expected it would take some time to come up to speed and intentionally worked to help me get there. They took my college degree as "proof I could learn" and then taught me what I needed to know. Over the last decade, I've seen less and less mentoring. Even…

In my accounting internships, we were just expected to show up and work. There wasn't much mentoring, and accounting classes really only cover theory. It was a bit of shock to the system.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#53

Post by closewith » Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 1:19 PM UTC

pluc wrote: post #3

Icathian wrote: post #2

While I can understand some of the arguments made about juniors getting some extra benefit from having everything close to hand, the sheer pace of the hit pieces against remote the last month or so is hilarious and very telling.

It's very obvious too... of course junior employees don't do as well as veterans when you take out the entire physical support system. Like.. duh? What you need to solve this is merely competent managers/mentoring culture.

My experience is that any comment on this site that includes the words merely, trivially, obviously, or simply is best ignored, including mine.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#54

Post by Inversechi » Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 1:19 PM UTC

CodeSgt wrote: post #25

Question for anyone who's had to onboard/train Jr's in a 100% remote environment, what's worked for you? How do you maximize their chances of success? What are some common pain points? This has been an issue at my org and we're having a hard time improving it.

For me it was a lot of pairing/mobbing on tasks leveraging the tools available. e.g having the driving person sharing their screen and using tools like Jetbrains Code With Me or VSCode LiveShare for the coding aspects.

Biggest pain point was the flexibility that was required with lockdowns meant sometimes the senior members were occupied with parenting responsibilities but we tried to ensure that the junior member had someone to pair with most of the time.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#55

Post by thesuitonym » Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 1:19 PM UTC

jimbob45 wrote: post #41

ZetaZero wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO, an expensive keyboard/mouse/monitor isn't necessary for a junior to succeed. Plenty of coders learned on much worse.

If it's really that much of a problem, most companies will let you bring your own. Everyone at my last place did that with no issue.

It's been the norm for decades that companies provide workers with the tools they need to do their job. And good companies provide good tools.

If you're bringing in your own means of production, what is the company for?

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#56

Post by Overtonwindow » Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 1:20 PM UTC

I had the unfortunate experience of working at a cubicle farm in Atlanta, and what really got me were the chairs. Crappy monitors, crappy equipment, par for the course, but the chairs hurt. Chairs that have been sitting around for a decade, and management could not care less. Gotta sit in a chair for four hours at a time, got back pain, too bad. That’s the only job in my life I’ve ever just walked out on. It was absolutely awful.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#57

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 1:20 PM UTC

indymike wrote: post #38

ZetaZero wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO, an expensive keyboard/mouse/monitor isn't necessary for a junior to succeed. Plenty of coders learned on much worse.

> IMO, an expensive keyboard/mouse/monitor isn't necessary for a junior to succeed. Plenty of coders learned on much worse. This is true, but the learning process is much more enjoyable when you are correctly equipped.

[deleted]

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#58

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 1:20 PM UTC

pluc wrote: post #3

Icathian wrote: post #2

While I can understand some of the arguments made about juniors getting some extra benefit from having everything close to hand, the sheer pace of the hit pieces against remote the last month or so is hilarious and very telling.

It's very obvious too... of course junior employees don't do as well as veterans when you take out the entire physical support system. Like.. duh? What you need to solve this is merely competent managers/mentoring culture.

[deleted]

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#59

Post by M0r13n » Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 1:21 PM UTC

I can not relate to this. I found my first real job after university in a medium sized company (100-200 employees). This company is a truly in-office company by heart. Before covid everybody had to go to the office. Working from home was not an option. Not even for one day. The whole culture was built around the in-person work experience.

But due to covid everybody worked remote. So did I. I actually never met most of colleagues up until recently. But working remote was never an issue for me. On the contrary, my colleagues struggled with working remotely. I think thats because they are relatively old and never used messengers, mail, social media and co. to an extend as my generation (age <=25). I think that people that grew up in digital spheres are going to feel quite comfortable in a remote environment.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#60

Post by ryanSrich » Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 1:21 PM UTC

Icathian wrote: post #2

While I can understand some of the arguments made about juniors getting some extra benefit from having everything close to hand, the sheer pace of the hit pieces against remote the last month or so is hilarious and very telling.

Now go back 10 years and imagine trying to raise money for a startup that was entirely remote. Or being an employee that refuses to work under forced-commute conditions. The tech industry and VCs have always been extremely anti-remote, and still are.

I have a working theory for why this is, which also explains why tech companies hire unsustainably. But that’s a much longer post.